Cybercrime on the rise and growing like bluebonnets on a hot Texas day. The Russian and ever since the fall of the Iron Curtain, has been a major player with regards to internet crimes. These affiliate networks known as the “Partnerkas” are populated all over the world. Most are based in Russia or Ukraine.
“So what are these guys up to?”
As one of my Ukrainian friend told me many many years ago; anything that drives money into their hands.
One of the classic
method is from execution of a scareware tactic.
We all at one time have hit that http hyperlink that directs you
to a site that claims to inspect your
computer. And after it runs for a 1-to-3 minutes, it tells you a virus exist
and then magically give you a link for a pay-antivirus/malware removal software kit. 1st off the
scan was fraudulent, and the antivirus
is a fraud also.
As a matter of fact, 7 out of 10 times, the antivirus/malware
you install is filled with Trojans or
other nasty that could cause more problems or infect your machine with botcode
that could than allow a botmaster to use your hosts as a agent.
“Okay what other things do they do?”
They are known for generating Blackhat SEO ( search engine
optimization). What this basically does, is to allow for improve hits when you
conduct a search engine search. This is all done fraudulently , & with
deception, and by using doorway pages, cloaking and with hidden webpage text.
All of these deceptive means are picked up by webcrawler and typically requires
an external or manual party to review these entries in order to police or
remove them.
A lot of website webmaster will pay a big $$$$$s for Blackhat
SEO , & just to improve their website
rating and with the hope of more hits = more traffic and sales.
“Okay here’s another ideal of what our former Ruskies friends
are doing”
Cybercrime sales for other cyber-criminals. Yes there’s a market
for spam, vulnerabilities creation, bot code creation, malware, anonymizer, and loaders. And the
Russian are good are at providing all of the above. If you want to become a cybercrimes
criminals, the Russians have a market with helping you become that
cybercriminal.
“And lastly, DDoS !”
The Russian underground has numerous involvement with regards to
creating and mastering DDoS attacks. This market is not as profitable as some
of the other activities previously mention. Online fraud by far, is the #1 main source within the cybercriminals activities and can generate
quick & easy funds that can be used to finance or bank role other
activities. A lot of these funds are then launder into other legit business.
I admire these guys for the dedication of what they are doing. They see a need and full fill that need as in the same way the now in prison Viktor Blount "Merchant of Death".
Be safe and play fair. I hope this short intro into the cybercrimes was helpful
Ken Felix
Freelance Network & Security Engineer
kfelix at hyperfeed com
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